Clinging Fast to Good

"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good." Romans 12:9

One time when I was still living at home, my brother and his friends came home, laughing and joking. They began to loudly talk about their exploits with teenage girls, and about their hopes for future exploits. It turned my stomach to hear that kind of talk being thrown about as if it was no big deal. This verse immediately came to mind.

Paul isn't just telling the Romans to do what is right and not do what is wrong. He's talking about a serious heart issue. The word "abhor" in the Greek means to detest with horror. It comes from the same root word as "shudder." That's a serious heart reaction. We are not just to avoid doing evil. We are to be repulsed and horrified at evil. We are to hate evil with all our hearts.

On the other side, to cling in the Greek means to be glued to, to stick fast to. In some cases, this word was used in a marital sense. In a sense, we are to be married to and to cling fast to that which is good. This, again, is definitely a heart reaction. We are not just to do that which is good, but to love it fervently and hold fast to it.

Do you have heart reactions like this? Do you hate evil with all your heart and love good with all your heart? If not, something is wired incorrectly. If you find yourself loving that which is evil and hating to do that which is good, I urge you, brothers and sisters, to get on your faces before God and cry out to Him, begging Him for a change of heart that will please Him.